Rammstein

Absolutely everyone has a musical guilty pleasure.  While the number of my guilty pleasure artists is slowly on the rise (including Lady Gaga and Weird Al), the first band I ever called my guilty pleasure was Rammstein.  The first thing that pops into peoples' minds when I say that I like Rammstein is their 1997 song Du Hast, which got a lot of play time on MTV with a wild and surreal video.  My first response back to them is "They have much better songs than that!"  It is a common answer to give when defending something no one else seems to understand.  It's not like anyone would ever give the rest of their library a chance, but it was always worth a try.  Another common response from people is, "It's all in German, how can you understand it?"  I will share my response that that comment later.

*WARNING: VERY BRIEF HISTORY LESSON*
For those that do not know who Rammstein is, I will a short overview of who they are.  Considered part of the Neue Deutsche Härte (New German Hardness) scene, Rammstein was formed in 1994 by men who grew up in East Germany.  Those that know history know that East Germany was a very difficult place to live, let alone grow up in.  It was a country of hardships, hard labor, and violence.  These themes, and many others that push the boundaries of "normal" are what make up the sound, style, and lyrics of Rammstein.  Fast forward to 2010, Rammstein have released their 6th studio album and continue to be one of the most controversial music groups.  Their music is classified as "Tanz-Metal" or Dance Metal.
END OF HISTORY LESSON


I was first introduced to Rammstein as I was about to enter high school.  One of my best friends got a copy of their Sehnsucht album which had the infamous Du Hast track.  I was immediately drawn to the unique and what I thought was scary sound that lead singer Till Lindemann channeled through his vocal cords.  His resonate deep bass voice was something I had never heard this side of Barry White.  He also had a rasp and roll to his words that gave each word a sinister sound.  Adding to Lindemann's vocal prowess was the sharp contrast of the heavy metal guitars and the "techno" industrial sound of the drums and keyboards.  When I first heard this, I was still deep into my Ska phase (yes, I loved ska...who didn't in the 90's?) so this industrial sound was fresh and a welcome change to the happy-go-lucky sounds of a 3 person brass section.


Another thing I was drawn to was the lyrics.  Almost every song in the Rammstein library are sung in German, save for a small handfull that were recorded entirely in English, one is Spanish, and other that have parts of the song sung in English or Russian.  I feel that Rammstein's choice to record in German is a bold statement to the rest of the world who feels English should be spoken everywhere.  I don't know this for a fact, but I feel that the language barrier that they have established turns off most Americans or other English speaking individuals, but Rammstein doesn't care.  They want that to happen.  If people don't accept them for who they are and what they do, they don't want them as fans.


The German language, as those who have heard it before can attest to, is not a beautiful language.  It is not a language I can imagine anyone being wooed with.  There are a lot of harsh sounds and words through which is why I feel Rammstein's choice to record all of their songs in their native language helped accomplish the feel and themes to their songs.  How much more sinister does the song Wollt Ihr Das Bett in Flammen Sehen (translation: Do You Want to See the Bed in Flames) sound when sung by a deep voiced German!  Of course, my natural curiosity made me want to find the translations to Rammstein's songs.  Luckily, there is a website, herzeleid.com, that had all of the translations I needed.  Once I saw these lyrics, I knew immediately why this bad had been censored, banned, and surrounded by controversy since they first emerged.   Songs such as Bestrafe Mich (Punish Me), Tier (Animal), Feuer Frei! (Open Fire!), Zwitter (Hermaphrodite), Rein Raus (In, Out), Mann Gegen Mann (Man Against Man), Te Quiero Puta! (I Love You, Whore), and Ich Tu Dir Weh (I Hurt You) are all filled with intense and explicit imagery that can at times border on what the mainstream would call perverse and depraved.  Songs such as these are why Rammstein has continuously been censored and banned from playing certain songs live.  People can interpret lyrics however they want, and they will, but Rammstein's entire goal in life is to push the boundaries of acceptable and proper.  Their songs, while on the surface seem violent, misogynistic, or disturbing should be taken as tongue-in-cheek words to get a rise out of people.  And get a rise out of people they do.


Not to be out done by just vocal imagery, their videos also tend to be on the controversial side.  For example, their video for Mein Teil (My Part) is a tongue in cheek, dark comedy portrayal of the Armin Meiwes case.  Meiwes gained international attention after her killed and ate a voluntary victim he found on the internet...not that is not a typo, a VOLUNTARY victim.  Anyways, the video portrays the band members dressed in bondage and led around on a leash by the drummer, Lindemann tearing the wings off and angel and eating them/her.  The song also has the lyrics, "Denn du bist was du isst und ihr wisst was es ist (Because you are what you eat and you know what it is) which is an allusion to the Meiwes case.  The words "Suche gut gebauten Achtzehn- bis Dreißigjährigen zum Schlachten – Der Metzgermeister (Looking for a well built 18 to 30 year old to be slaughtered - The Master Butcher)" is spoken at the very beginning of the video, which is the exact post that Meiwes posted on the internet looking for his victim.  Rammstein was later sued by Meiwes and lost $5.5 million in the case.


There are other videos with controversial images/themes in them.  The "Engel (Angel)" video is filmed in a strip club with children in cages, the "Ich Will (I Want)" video shows the band robbing a bank, getting caught for it, and is glorified by the public/media, the "Mann Gegan Mann (Man Against Man)" video has a bunch of naked men wrestling and the band playing their instruments naked.  One of their latest, and what will likely go down in music video infamy as the most censored/banned music video in history is for the song "Pussy" which had a LOT of male and female nudity and on screen sex with body doubles for the band members (ending with "money shots").  The band has been on record saying that they like being on the "fringes of bad taste" but that each thing they do "serves a purpose" of conveys an important message.


Controversy aside, my two favorite Rammstein videos are their least controversial.  The video for "Ohne Dich (Without You) and the video for "Keine Lust (Don't Feel Like It)" share a deeper message from the band with "Ohne Dich" being more serious (click here for "Ohne Dich" video) and "Keine Lust" being very goofy.(click here for "Keine Lust" video)


To sum up, I continue to be drawn to and am impressed by Rammstein.  They unapologetically put themselves out there and will continue to do so until they tire of it.  I respect people who are not afraid to push the limits and be their own person regardless of what others tell them they should be.  From now until I die, Rammstein will likely always be at the top of my playlists, even though they are a guilty pleasure.